4. Run X Windows

You will want to add the X windows executables to your path. Your path
is the list of directories to be searched when you type a command. You
will also want to add the man pages from XFree86 to the list of pages
to be searched when you are looking for documentation. The way to do
this depends on the shell you are using. With tcsh or csh add the
following two lines to a file in your home directory called .cshrc
(create this file if you don't have one yet):

Now type ``source ~/.cshrc;rehash'' to
get these changes to take effect. On future logins, this file will be
executed automatically.

You are now ready to go. On Mac OS X, you have to do a few extra steps
each time you want to run X windows. You can't run XFree86 with
CoreGraphics running since they both want to control the screen. So
for Mac OS X you first need to logout. Then for Mac OS X DP4, from the
login window type ``console'' as the user name and push
login. For Mac OS X Beta, type ``>console'' as the user
name. This should shutdown CoreGraphics and bring you up with a text
console. Login again.

Now from the text console you can start X Windows in either Darwin or
Mac OS X by typing ``startx''. After a brief wait at least one terminal
window should pop up for you. So far it probably isn't very impressive
as you might not even have a window manager running to allow you to
move windows around.

When you are ready to quit X windows type ``exit'' in the main
terminal window or quit with the window manager if you have one
running. Unfortunately the X server won't shutdown correctly and you
will get an apparently frozen screen with only a spinning beachball
cursor on it. Nothing you type shows up on the screen, but in fact
your keystrokes are being received by the console. Type
``logout'' to return to normalcy after a brief delay. With
Darwin this should put you back at the text console login prompt. With
Mac OS X, CoreGraphics will restart and you should be given a login
window.

Customize X Windows

X windows is very customizable and you will certainly want to change
some things. There is a lot you can do to control how your windows
look, how the windows are moved, resized, etc. You will likely want to
get a better window manager than twm, which is included with
XFree86. The .xinitrc file in your home directory controls what
programs are run when you start X windows. You can find a sample
.xinitrc file in /private/etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc.

There are several
window managers that have been ported to Darwin. The best collection
of window managers and other X windows applications is at Darwinfo's ports page. Another good place to look for Darwin ports in general is at
Stepwise's Softrak site.